Abductor exercising therapeutical appliance



March 4, 1969 M. L. MACK 3,430,955

ABDUCTOR EXERCISING THERAPEUTICAL APPLIANCE I Filed Dec. 50, 1966 Sheet of 2 INVENTOE Mnumce MHCK WM&/MA #11 144 March 4, 1969 M. MACK ABDUCTOR EXERCISING THERAPEUTICAL APPLIANCE Sheet ,2 of 2 Filed Dec.

United States Patent Ofice Patented Mar. 4, 1969 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An appliance adapted to receive an arm of the user and permit the user to freely move his or her arm in circles of selectable diameter in a horizontal plane. The appliance includes a base for table mounting, an upstanding post arrangement thereon which is vertically telescopic and adjustable for the desired height, a horizontally extending arm mounted atop the column through antifriction bearings rotatable on a first vertical axis, with an arm support pad mounted through antifriction bearings to the arm, the arm being telescopic so that the vertical axis of rotation of the pad on the arm is positionable at various desired spacings from the first axis of rotation of the arm.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention As a result of certain types of accidents, diseases, or illnesses, persons are disabled to the extent that arm and shoulder movements are very difficult or virtually impossible. Recovery is very often slow and sometimes it is a major achievement for the patient to be able to recover enough to move at all. Yet some movement, however little, is desirable to aid in recovery so that progressively greater and stronger movements will become possible. However, the weight of a persons limbs are often more than the patient can move even horizontally on a supporting surface, much less lift of his own accord. Therefore, the need has existed for means enabling a person to exercise even though his ability for any movement is quite limited.

Description of the prior art There seems to be a dearth of devices useful for upper arm exercisers for the types of motions and adapted to patients having the limitations of ability, which are satisfied by the present invention. The following patents are known, but are not considered pertinent: Touraine, 2,819,081, Jan. 7, 1958; Monaco, 1,879,401, Sept. 27, 1932; Yates, 3,042,023, July 3, 1962.

The present invention enables a person to move his arm in small circles in a horizontal plane without the necessity of either holding his arm up and without the necessity of overcoming any friction which the arm resting on a stationary surface would encounter. Therefore, the present invention enables a person with a serious disability to begin to exercise his arm and shoulder muscles, starting with very little or virtually no resistance and moving his arm in small circles, and progressing to larger circles. The present invention is adapted to additional exercises as recovery progresses including some where a resistance to arm motion is provided. It therefore assists in attainment of the fastest possible recovery from the disability.

Summary of the invention Described briefly, a typical embodiment of the present invention includes a base adapted to convenient mounting on the table or bench top. An upstanding column assembly is provided on the abse and includes therein an upstanding tube having a pair of ball bearings therein with their centers disposed on a first vertical axis. This central tube is vertically slidable in the column assembly to enable raising and lowering an arm supporting platform to provide the elevation most satisfactory to the 5 patient.

A horizontally extending arm is pivotally mounted atop the center tube for free rotation on the first axis and the patients arm supporting platform is pivotally mounted to the horizontally extending arm near an outer end thereof for free rotation on a vertical axis parallel to and spaced from the first axis. The horizontally extending arm is telescopic so as to enable movement of the platform axis nearer to or farther from the first rotational axis as required to best conform to the abilities of the various patients using the appliance.

Brief description of the drawing The full nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typical embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical section therethrough.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal section therethrough taken along the line 3-3 in FIGURE 2 and viewed in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the slotted portion of the extendable bar of the horizontally extending arm assembly.

Description of the preferred embodiments Referring now to the drawings in detail illustrating a typical embodiment of the present invention, a generally rectangular base plate 11 is provided with a rectangular mounting collar 12 aflixed thereto by four screws 13 extending upwardly through apertures in the base plate and threadedly received in the collar. An outer cylindrical tube 14 is fittingly received in a cylindrical aperture 16 in the mounting collar 12 and the lower end thereof rests on top of the base plate 11. A low-friction plastic sleeve 17 is fittingly received in the bore of the tube 14 and its lower end also rests on top of the base plate 11. This middle or intermediate tube 17 has four apertures near the lower end, through which mounting screws are received to secure it and the outer tube to the collar 12. Two of these screws 18 are shown and they are of the Allen socket head type of machine screw threadedly received both in the outer tube 14 and in the collar 12, and the heads thereof are tightened against the inner surface 19 of the middle tube as shown.

A third cylindrical tube 21 is slidingly received in the middle tube and the inner tube 21 serves as a mount for two bearings 22 and 23 at the upper and lower ends thereof, respectively. Each of these bearings is a high quality ball bearing and the outer race thereof is flanged as at 24 and 26 to abuttingly rest on the upper and lower ends respectively of the inner tube 21. A snug fit is pro vided between these outer races and the inside wall 27 of the inner tube to prevent rotation of the outer races of these bearings in the tube 21. The inner races are free to rotate, however, whereby the shaft 28 mounted therein will freely rotate on the vertical axis 29.

The mounting of the shaft will be best understood by referring to the horizontal mounting arm assembly 30 which includes an elongated outer tube 31 of rectangular cross section. The shaft 28 is actually a hexagonal head bolt, the head of which engages the inner bearing race 82 of the lower bearing 23 abuttingly engaging the lower face 33 of this bearing race. The bolt shank fittingly is received in a central aperture in bearing race 32 and extends upwardly through the central aperture of the identical inner bearing race 34 of the upper bearing 3 22 and the lower face 36 of the tube 31 abuttingly engages and rests on the upper face 37 of the inner race 34 of the upper bearing.

The tube 31 is threaded at the aligned apertures 38 and 39 therein whereby this tube 31 is threadedly received on the threads 41 at the upper end of the shaft 28. A nut 42 is also threadedly received on the shaft and serves to lock the tube 31 in place on the shaft and against the upper bearing race 34.

The mounting of the tube 31 on the shaft 28 is such as to permit maximum overall end play between the upper and lower bearings and the bolt head and tube 31 of approximately ,4 inch. This avoids axially loading of the bearings by the bolt and thereby permits free and easy rotation of the tube 31 on the vertical axis 29. The use of the nut 42 against the tube 31 provides a locking effect to prevent any change in this overall clearance. Naturally if it is desirable to increase or decrease the end clearance, it can easily be done by loosening the nut 42 and turning the tube 31 on the shaft 28 by holding the shaft stationary. The holding of the shaft stationary is facilitated by providing the hexagonal head 43 on the lower end of the shaft and providing an aperture 44 in the base plate for admitting a wrench or socket or other holding tool.

In addition to the outer tube 31 of rectangular cross section, the arm assembly includes a bar 46 received in the tube 31 and also of rectangular cross section. A bolt 47 is threadedly received in the bar near one end, centerline 48 of blot 47 is parallel to the center line 29 of the bolt 28.

The bolt 47 is used to mount a platform assembly to the arm assembly and for this purpose there are two bearings 49 and 51 received on two apertured blocks 52 and 53, respectively, with an apertured spacer 54 disposed between the blocks. The lower block 53 has a plate 57 mounted to the lower face thereof and the upper block 52 has a plate 57 mounted to the upper face thereof. These blocks and spacers and plates are secured together by four screws 58 threadedly received in all five parts and passing through apertures in the platform plate 59. The screws 58 can conveniently be fiat headed machine screws received in countersunk apertures in the platform plate 59 and threadedly received in each of the three plates 54, 56 and 57 and the two blocks 52 and 53.

The bearings 49 and 51 are flanged at 61 and 62 respectively as are the bearings 22 and 23, and these flanges are received in recesses in the upper face of the block 52 and lower face of block 53, respectively. The bolt 47 is actually a flat headed machine screw and the upper end thereof is received in the outer aperture in the inner race 63 of the upper bearing 49. The bolt passes through the inner races of both bearings and is also threadedly received in a support collar 64 which rests on the bar 46. The inner race 66 of the lower bearing 51 rests on top of the support collar 64. So it is that the bolt or screw 47 is passed through the central apertures of the two bearings 49 and 51 and threadedly received in collar 64 and bar 46 to hold the assembly together. However, the reception of the bolt in the bar 46 is only far enough to hold the unit together properly but does not load the bearings. In other words, here as in the case of the post assembly with the bearings 22 and 23, the bearings are retained together and properly positioned by the bolt but are able to properly rotate freely. A set screw 67 threadedly received in the support collar 64 is engageable with the bolt 47 to lock the collar against the bolt as desired.

Because each of the plates 54, 56 and 57 has a central aperture as at 69, which is large enough in diameter to clear the inner races of both bearings and also to clear the support collar 64, these three plates can be identical. Likewise the two blocks 52 and 53 can be identical.

For convenient and comfortable support of the arm of the person using the appliance, a pad 71 is mounted on the platform plate 59 and is typically provided with a foam rubber core 72 and a plastic zippered covering 73 which can be made of the material known as Dacron, for example. This pad is secured to the platform 59 by means of two straps 74 and 76 (FIG. 1). Each of these straps is mounted to the platform by reception in suitable slots therein such as the slots 77, 78, 79 and 81 of the platform for the strap 74. These straps can also be used to secure a persons arm to the platform, if desired.

From the foregoing description, it should be apparent that if a person places his arm on the platform pad, he can easily move the platform in a circle about the axis 29 because both the platform and the arm assembly are free to rotate on their axes 48 and 29, respectively. Naturally a person undergoing therapy may very well need a minimum of resistance to such movement in the early stages of his recovery. The present invention is therefore capable of enabling the patient to obtain the desired movement of his arm with virtually no external resistance to it.

Because the present invention intended for use by patients in various stages of rehabilitation and therefore having different capabilities, and because it may be desirable to mount the appliance to tables of different heights and because the patients may also be different physical stature, several additional features are incorporated according to the present invention.

The first of these features is concerned with the distance of the platform above the base 11. FIGURE 1 shows the apparatus adjusted so that the platform is somewhat farther above the base than it is in FIGURE 2. This is provided for by making it possible to easily raise the inner tube 27 within the middle tube and outer tube. As shown in FIGURE 2, the flange 26 of the lower bearing 23 is resting on the heads of the screws 18. At that time, a nut 82 is received in the lower most aperture or recess 83 in the outer tube 14 (FIG. 1). This nut is mounted on a screw 84 threadedly received in a ring 86 which tightly fits the interior of the inner tube 21. To obtain this fit during assembly of the apparatus, the tube 21 may be heated and the ring 86 frozen and assembled so that when both parts return to room temperature, the tube 21 is shrink fitted onto the ring 86. The screw 84 is preferably secured in the threads 87 in the ring 86 and this can be accomplished by use of a suitable thread locking compound, one example being a type known under the trademark Loctite.

Because the aperture 83 fittingly receives the nut 82, the bearing assembly and arm cannot be raised unless the nut 82 is turned outwardly in the counterclockwise direction as indicated by arrow 88 so as to remove it from engagement with the wall of aperture 83. When this is done, the inner tube together with the bearing and arm assembly can be raised as desired to a maximum elevation where the nut 82 is receivable in the aperture 89 at the upper end of the group of apertures. To facilitate the passage of the screw 84 from the bottom aperture to the top aperture, there is a slot as at 91 between each two adjacent which provides, in effect, an elongated slot extending from the lower aperture 83 to the upper aperture 89.

To retain the assembly in the uppermost position, the nut 82 is screwed inward toward the shaft 28 and may be screwed into abutting relationship with the outer surface of the inner tube 2.1 as illustrated in FIGURE 3, for example. Because the nut is too large to pass the slot 91 the assembly cannot descend until the nut is again turned out counterclockwise to clear the slot 91 and the other like slots on the way down. In FIGURE 1, the nut is shown seated in location in the third aperture from the top to locate the apparatus at the desired elevation.

To avoid rotation of the inner tube with respect to the middle and outer tubes, two guide screws 92 and 93 are threadedly received in the ring 86 and the heads of these screws abuttingly engage the outer cylindrical surface of the inner tube and are seated against it. Vertical guide slots 94 and 96 are provided in the middle tube to accommodate the heads of the screws 92 and 93, respectively. These screw heads are therefore guidingly received in the slots 94 and 96 and prevent rotation of the middle and outer tubes with respect to the inner tube as the unit is raised or lowered.

The material used for the middle tube is typically a plastic having low-friction characteristics and materials marketed under the trademarks Plexiglas, Lucite, or Teflon can be used well for this purpose. It facilitates the free vertical movement of the inner tube for adjustment of height, when desired.

It is also desirable to be able to increase the diameter of the swing of the platform when the patient has progressed to the point where he is able to move his arm in a larger circle than he could previously. Therefore, while FIGURE 2 shows the bar 46 located to provide the minimum radius from axis 48 to axis 29, it can be moved out if desired. To retain it in the innermost location, a nut 97 is received in the aperture 98 and is threadedly received on the screw 99 which is threadedly received and fixed in the bar 46 by a thread locking compound.

To extend the bar 46, the nut 97 is screwed up on the screw 99 by turning the nut counterclockwise in the direction of the arrow 100 (FIG. 1) so that the nut is free of the recessed aperture 98. Then the bar can be slid out in the direction of the arrow 101 (FIG. 2) to the extent desired. In FIGURE 1, it is moved out so that the nut 97 registers with and is received in the third aperture 102. Each of these apertures has countersunk surfaces as at 103 which cooperate with the rounded lower end of the nut as at 104 to facilitate centering of the nut in the aperture as the nut is turned down on the screw 99 to lock the bar in the desired location. To accommodate the sliding of the bar without interference with the bolt 28, the portion of the bar 46 on the side of the axis 29 opposite the platform mounting bolt 47 is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 106 clearing the bar. This slotted extension of the bar 46 provides a balancing feature offsetting somewhat the weight of the bar on the opposite side of the axis 29 and also providing additional support and bearing surface in the tube 31 when the bar is at its maximum extension which it would have when the nut 97 is received in the aperture 107 most remote from the axis 29. To further facilitate the sliding of the bar 46 in and out of the arm tube 31, lower and upper low-friction linings 108 and 109, respectively are provided. These linings are typically made of a low-friction plastic material such as that known as Teflon. For the lower lining, a sheet of this material is provided with an adhesive, bonding it at its lower face to the upper face 111 of the inside of the tube 31. Similarly, the upper liner sheet 109 is provided with an adhesive, bonding it to the lower surface 112 of the upper wall of the rectangular tube 31.

As is the case for the vertical adjustment lock nut mounting screw and slot arrangement, the horizontal swing radius adjustment nut mounting screw 99 is accommodated during the extension of the bar 46 by providing a slot such as at 113 between each two adjacent nut receiving apertures. In this way the screw 99 can freely pass from one aperture to the next without interference. The liner strip 109 is typically provided with a slot extending the overall distance from the aperture 98 to the aperture 107 and of a width greater than the diameter of the nut 97. Similarly the middle tube 17 of the post assembly is provided with a vertically extending slot 114 extending the full height from the lowermost aperture 83 to the uppermost aperture 89 and which is of a width'greater than the diameter of the cylindrical surface of the nut 82.

As a patient advances further toward recovery, it may be desirable to attach some resistance to the platform and this might be in the form of a weighted cable or a spring or other means. To facilitate the attachment, an

eyelet 116 is provided on the platform. Also it might be found desirable to aflix the base 11 to a table top or other surface, and to facilitate such an attachment four rectangular apertures 117 are provided in the base and can receive screws or carriage bolts or other fasteners. Otherwise, however, the high-friction elastic (e.g., rubber) mat 118 adhesively secured to the bottom of the base will keep the appliance from skidding about as it is used.

By way of example, the following specifications can be conveniently employed:

Material-Anodized aluminum.

Shafts 28 and 47-- /2 inch diameter steel.

Tube 311 /2 inches x inch x A inch wall thickness.

Stroke radius (axis 29 to axis 48)-5 inches to 7 /2 inches.

Tubes 14 and 21-% inch wall thickness.

Nominal diametrical clearance between inner tube 21 and middle tube 17-.005 inch.

Axial extension of bearing inner races beyond flange face of outer race- ,4, inch.

Bearings 22, 23, 49, 51Kilian ball bearings No. 750-21.

Bolt 0D. to bearing inner race I.D.-.0l0 clearance (nominal) on diameter.

While the invention has been disclosed and described in some detail in the drawings and foregoing description, they are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, as other modifications may readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in this art and within the broad scope of the invention, reference being made to the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. A therapeutical applicance comprising:

a first portion adapted to be aflixed to a stationary surface and extend upwardly therefrom;

a horizontally extending arm pivotally mounted to said first portion for rotation on a first axis;

a platform pivotally mounted to said arm for rotation thereon on a second axis parallel to and spaced from said first axis, said platform being disposed above said arm, the elevation of said platform being at a plane higher than any other portion of said first portion and said arm whereby a person can rest his arm on said plat-form and move his arm in a circle in a horizontal plane while rested on said platform without interference,

said horizontally extending arm including:

a tube;

a bar of cross sectional shape matching said tube and fittingly received in said tube and slidable lengthwise therein;

and locking means cooperable with said tube and said bar for securing said tube and said bar together in any of a variety of locations of said bar in said tube whereby the spacing between said first and second axis can be varied and fixed to permit said second axis to describe circles of desired diameters.

2. A therapeutical appliance comprising:

a first portion adapted to be aflixed to a stationary surface and extend upwardly therefrom;

a horizontally extending arm pivotally mounted to said first portion for rotation on a first axis;

a platform pivotally mounted to said arm for rotation thereon on a second axis parallel to and spaced from said first axis, said platform being disposed above said arm, the elevation of said platform being at a plane higher than any other portion of said first portion and said arm whereby a person can rest his arm on said platform and move his arm in a circle in a horizontal plane while rested on said platform without interference, said horizontally extending arm comprising:

a tube of rectangular cross section;

a bar of rectangular cross section slidingly received in said tube and slidable lengthwise therein;

and locking means cooperable with said tube and 3,430,955 7 8 said bar for securing said tube and bar together said mounting ring and received in said third cylinin any of a variety of locations of said bar in der and abuttingly engaging said third cylinder to said tube whereby the spacing between said first thereby project into the space between said third and and second axis can be varied and fixed to perfirst cylinders, said space being provided in the form mit said second axis to describe circles of desired of a first vertical slot for said first guide screw and diameters. a second vertical slot for said second guide screw, 3. The appliance of claim 2 wherein said locking said screw heads being slidable vertically in said means includes: slots and fittingly so therein to prevent rotation of a plurality of spaced countersunk apertures in a line said third cylinder tube and ring with respect to said along the length of said rectangular tube; 10 second and first cylinders, said second cylinder being a first screw threadedly received in and fixed to said alow-friction plastic cylinder.

bar and extending vertically therefrom; 7. The appliance of claim 5 wherein the inner races of and a knob nut threadedly received on said screw and said bearings project axially beyond the flanged faces of fittingly receivable in any one of said apertures at a the outer race of said bearings by an amount providing time, clearance between said tubular portion of said arm and said apertures being connected by longitudinally exthe stationary outer race of said upper bearing.

tending slots of a width less in dimension than the 8. The appliance of claim 1 and further comprising: diameter of said knob but slightly greater in dimena cushioned sanitary washable pad secured by strap sion than the diameter of said screw whereby said means to said platform and disposed on the upper screw is freely movable through said slots during surface thereof to comfortably support the arm of transition from registry with the aperture nearest the user; said first axis to a position of registry with the aperand a bearing block assembly including first, second and ture farthest from said first axis while said nut is third identical plates and first and second identical advanceable into any of said apertures upon registry blocks, said first block being sandwiched between therewith and thereupon fittingly receivable in the said first and second plates, and said second block aperture to lock said bar with respect to said tube. being sandwiched between said second and third 4. The appliance of claim 3 and further comprising: plates, said blocks being provided with bores fittingly a first shaft on said first axis, upper and lower lowand snugly receiving flanged outer races of upper friction plastic lining strips disposed inside said recand lower bearings and having countersunk recesses tangular tube and secured thereto, the lower strip on the upper and lower surfaces respectively thereof providing a smooth low-friction upper surface supto receive the flanges of said upper and lower bearporting said bar and the upper strip providing a ings, respectively; smooth low-friction lower surface engaging the upa bearing support collar threadedly received on a shaft per surface of said bar, said bar and said tube exhaving a longitudinal axis colinear with said second tending horizontally and longitudinally on both sides axis, said block abuttingly engaging said arm, said of said first axis whereby the portion thereof on upper and lower bearings having inner races fittingly the side of said axis opposite the side to which said diametrically received on said shaft and projecting platform is mounted serve to balance a portion of beyond the outer faces of the flanges of said bearings the weight of said bar and tube that are on the same to thereby provide spacing between the lower bearside as said platform is mounted, said bar having a 4 ing outer race and said support block to accommolongitudinally extending slot therein adapted to accommodate said first shaft as said bar is slid outdate free rotation of the outer race and thereby the block assembly therewith;

said platform being afiixed to said block assembly with screws threadedly received in the plates and blocks of said block assembly to thereby provide a freely rotating mount for said platform on said arm.

9. The appliance of claim 8 and further comprising a connector loop on the under face of said platform thereof for connection to resistance means when desired.

ward and inward in said tube throughout the total span between the aperture nearest said first axis and the aperture farthest from said first axis. 4 5. The appliance of claim 1 wherein said first portion includes first, second and third coaxial cylinders, said first and second cylinders being afiixed together and said third cylinder being fittingly and guidingly received in said second cylinder, said first, second and third cylinders having said first axis as their common axis:

an upper and lower ball bearings secured in said third cylinder at the upper and lower ends respectively thereof, said ball bearings having inner races free to 2,080,958 rotate with respect to said third cylinder and receiv- 3140092 ing a first shaft therethrough, said horizontally extending arm having a tubular portion affixed to said first shaft. 6. The appliance of claim 5 and further comprising: a mounting ring disposed in said third cylinder with said third cylinder afiixed onto said mounting ring; first and second guide screws threadedly received in References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1937 Beasley et al 124--7 7/ 1964 Hrubetz 272-37 XR RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

W. R. BROWNE, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 272-57, 81, 82 

